fair-deal

Housing Act of 1949

• Date: 1949
• Part of Harry Truman’s Fair Deal
• Five main elements
  • Federal financing for slum clearance
  • Increased authorization for FHA mortgage insurance
  • Federal funding for public housing units
  • Funding for research on building techniques
  • Financing for farm housing
• Direct inspiration from Blighted Areas Redevelopment act of Illinois
  • Created a Land Clearance Commission
    • Could acquire land in blighted areas, demolish structures, and sell at a discount to private investors who would bulid profitable structures
  • Illinois Relocation Act was passed at the same time
    • Provided money to build public housing for 15% of those displaced by urban renewal
• Source: Beryl Satter, “Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America”, 2009, pp47-49.
• Tags: fair-deal federal-housing-policy